Ya beauty! I've finally got one!

[tolcol]

Hello All, Yesterday i finally found the car i've been after. /woot2/woot2
A 97P White Legnum VR4 Type-S with black leather interior. What a car! Easily the best fun car i've ever owned. Pics to follow.
It's totally standard except for uprated brakes and a cone air filter.
I've been looking over the forums for a while and all the info was very helpful while i was looking, i checked out 3 others before i parted with cash for this one. Well done to all who post on here. /thankyou
I'm going to put it in for a full service while i'm next away to work offshore, can anyone recommend a good local garage (Local to Aberdeen)or should i just go to mitsubishi in Bucksburn?

[Nick Mann]

Sounds like a car of the year edition! (COTY)

Enjoy it. :thumbsup:

[peter thomson]

Well done Colin , I assume this one is a lot better than the others you viewed

[tolcol]

Yup, little badges at the back say Car of the Year Japan 1996-1997.
I didn't know that made it a special edition, was it the year or the leather interor which gave it away?
I'm assuming its the 260PS version would that be right?

[tolcol]

Yeah Peter, this one ticked all the boxes, i've only had it 30 odd hours and i've used 40 odd quid in fuel already, i don't even care so i must be having fun.

[Davezj]

there are a few COTY owner on here and they seem to be well looked after cars.
PaddyB has one and i have never seen a cleaner car than that. the engine bay was cleaner than my dinner plates. and the wheels where quite special as well paited polished and laquard to perfection, looks much better than the standard pre facelift.

well thats my opinon.

Welcome to the club and enjoy the car!

[PaddyB]

/Welcome2

I've got a COTY & I love it.

COTY's are (I believe) a type-s with all the electro-gubbins, only in galaxy white, black leather & beautiful wheels like these (http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=23898&d=1222944593). As it's an auto it will be 260PS.

Can't help you with servicing in your area but if you're ever in Redditch I can recommend Nick Mann.

oh and /ttiwwop

[PaddyB]

... & watch out for wheel envy :)

[SGHOM]

if you're ever in Redditch I can recommend Nick Mann.



NO /Grrr He got me spasticated with Mark in the foxlidiate last week /pan :happy:

[Kieran]

... & watch out for wheel envy :)

/grr

Sasserfrasserasser......

[tolcol]

Cheers for all the replies, hope i get the same attention once thngs start to go wrong and i need help.
I'll have pics up soon so anyone wanting to envy the wheels may do so at their leisure.
TC

[ritch_w]

is Station Garage in Aberdeen not a Ralliart approved dealer? They should (hopefully) know how to look after a vr4

[Nick VR4]

Hi and welcome to the forum congrats on the new car

[tolcol]

is Station Garage in Aberdeen not a Ralliart approved dealer? They should (hopefully) know how to look after a vr4

I just had the car up to them today, £730 for a cambelt service and that without changing the hydraulic tensioner which is another 100 just for the part, i understand that these can go in higher mileage cars, mine has done around 90000 miles as far as i can tell, it's not that clear from the history, the speedo reads 114000.

Can anyone tell me if i should get them to do that too, or if i'm going overboard and should just get a standard servce for the moment, i'm only doing about 4 or 5 hundred miles a month.

[Nutter_John]

730 for a cambelt service , are we just talking about changing the cambelt or does that include a full service as well

and yes i woul change the tensioners as well

[peter thomson]

best to change the waterpump as well if they haven't included it

[ritch_w]

try asking on the MLR if any of the evo boys know of a specialist in your area - a good specialist should be able to do it a lot cheaper. Also, i think theres is a "how to" guide in the members section that could be useful whether you do it yourself or trust a specialist.

[tolcol]

730 for a cambelt service , are we just talking about changing the cambelt or does that include a full service as well

and yes i woul change the tensioners as well

Yes that includes oil & filter, plugs, timing belt, AYC diff & res oil. for the grand sum of 730 (including 7.3 hrs labour @ £52/hr).
I'll have to add tensioner and water pump to the list.

I phoned around a bit and only one other garage in the area (wallace performance) woulld quote the job but i heard bad things about them, and they never did call back with the quote anyway.
As for doing it myself, as much as i'd love to, i don't have the expertise, tools or space to try that.
Mitsubishi it is then and looks like this service (plus new tyres) is going to cost over a grand. ouch!

On the bright side when i get home from work i can pick it up knowing it's been taken care of, and i can start enjoying it properly.
I've ordered a doubleDIN touchscreen stereo for it too, this trip offshore is going to seem really long!

[elnevio]

Sorry to make you think of further expense, but what condition is the ATF in? The dipstick is found down between the air intake and battery tray.

It should be a lovely ruby red colour - best dropping some of the fluid off the dipstick onto some kitchen towel to tell. If it is orange, or brown, it needs changing.

[tolcol]

By the time i added the water pump hydraulic tensioner and the ATF flush to the rest the quoted total was nearing £1400 !!! Now i see why some guys on here call them a $tealership.
Eventually decided to drop the timing belt and plugs for now and just got it booked in for all the fluids and a diagnostics check.

Just got it back from Mitsu garage, they changed all the fluids and a vac hose which was giving an intermittent TCL light and EML light fault (i told them what was causng it after looking it up on here).
350 quid for that lot, and worth it i'd say.
The most noticeable thing is that its now changing gear much more smoothly, kick down from 5th to 2nd was almost instant driving home.
I can tell i'm gonna love this car!

[Nick Mann]

There must be someone around you that can do the job for a fair price. Eurospec charge around £535 IIRC for a cambelt change, including the tensioner, pulleys and water pump.

I can't do it much cheaper than that, though!

[tolcol]

Since i got the V5 doc and found out how long the car's been in th country (only 1 year) i've re-esimated the mileage to more like 75-80k rather than the 90k i thought when i bought it.
Hopefully i can get it done next year some time and concentrate on the interior till then, hopefully i've got dibs on a carbon dash via another member near me.
I'd appreciate the info on where eurospec are, sound like a great price going by what mitsu want to charge, 130 quid for just the water pump itself and i bought one on camskill for just 30. Just going to have to wait till i can use it i suppose.
Cheers for all the replies btw, great to have all this knowledge around.

[elnevio]

Good to hear the mileage is lower than expected!

Eurospec are miles away from you - they have an advert on the banner at the top of the CVR4 webpage (rotates with a few others), but their website is www.eurospec2000.co.uk - you would probably have to add on the best part of £200 in fuel for the round trip!

BUT, it could well be worth it for the biggie service.

On the other hand, if you have a competent garage you often use near you, just that you're not sure about handing a VR-4 over to them, you can always take along print-offs of the appropriate instructions from the members' area!